A Last Kiss
by Saoirse agus amach
Summary: Many Waters Cannot Quench Love, Neither Can the Seas Drown It" Edward's last kiss with his true love


I do not own Twilight, Edward Cullen (if only

I do not own Twilight, Edward Cullen (if only!), or any thing else remotely affiliated with Stephanie Meyer's fun Universe. Peter Pan and the Poem "Evangeline" inspired a lot of this, I don't own those either. They belong to Barry and Longfellow.

A/N This is one shot-ish. Edward never came back and Bella married someone else and had a life.

Death was always close. Alice imagined death as a young man walking down a dirt road. He would wave at people and chase stray dogs. When someone was dying he would leave the dirt road and go to wherever that person was. There, he would smile and say "there you are. Wanna come for a walk?" It was easy to think of death as a friendly young man. It made it easier to cope with, thinking that when someone you loved died a friendly person would escort him or her.

Alice Black was always happiest at her gram's house. Gram was a writer and English teacher for upwards of sixty before she finally decided to leave the academic world and vowed never to put another word on a page. The thing Alice loved was the mystery around her gram. Gram's life had been cloaked in mystery since she graduated high school and left for the east coast. No one knew where she disappeared to for four years, and when she came back she spent her time locked away, and was only seen in public when in the company of her Jacob. Poppy Jake was the other thing Alice loved about Gram. They continued to love each other well into their older years, after Poppy died gram still whispered "Goodnight Jake" before she turned off the final light in the house. Gram's obvious love was poured into all of her stories. Stories of forbidden love, long lasting love, and happy endings. None of Gram's books had sad endings. Possibly the most mysterious thing to Gram's readers was her dedication of every book "First for my sun for saving me, and of course for my eclipse, for forcing me to grow". No one was quite sure what this meant, but Poppy had always frowned when he opened one of Gram's books.

Tonight was not a happy time for Alice to be with Gram. The doctor had been in earlier and informed Alice there was not much time left. So Alice sat in the old rocking chair her Gram had had forever, and Gram lay in the bed barely able to breath, but still smiling whenever she caught Alice's eye. Alice was the most devoted of Gram's remaining relatives. Alice's uncles, Jasper and Charlie, were somewhere in China. Alice's parents had passed away last winter on the icy roads of Forks. So tonight it was just Alice and Gram. Alice had reverted to her favorite pastime, reading Gram's stories. She grabbed her favorite The Home front flipped to the last page and read.

"_Lyla waved goodbye to one last time to Emerson before going inside to her mother. 'He will be back' she whispered to herself, 'he has to come back'. Before she even made it to the kitchen the front door opened suddenly and standing in the frame was Emerson. One look told her everything, that he would not go, that he would face the consequences just to be with her."_

All of Gram's stories ended like that, with people staying together. The hero of the story was always the same person with a different name- Emerson, Ellis, Everett- always and "e" name. This continuity is what had gained Gram her cult following, people called her a modern Jane Austen. Alice got up from her spot next to Gram to go get some more coffee, there was no way she would sleep with Gram in her condition.

** Edward Cullen could not believe what he was doing. For the past sixty years he had avoided this house, town, state, section of the country. Yet here he was driving the back roads as if it had been only yesterday. Two mornings ago his sister had informed him that he should go to Forks-to **_**the**_** house- if he wanted to say goodbye. So here was. Driving down the road he stopped suddenly just before making the final turn that would take him down the driveway to his former home. "Just breathe, dammit. This is what you wanted for her". With a resolute face he pushed the gas pedal and made the turn. Outside the home he noticed the kitchen light on and a young woman apparently watching coffee brew, he decided it would be best to avoid her, so he parked around back and silently snuck into the house. Edward knew what room she would be in, his old room. With unnatural speed he cleared the stairs and paused one more time in front of the bedroom door. After one unnecessary deep breath he pushed the door open and walked inside, what he saw shocked him. The old woman still had traces of a great beauty to her, but she appeared diminished, like a light somewhere had gone out. People who had known her for a while would say that she had looked like that since a certain family had moved away while she was in high school, but Edward was not aware of that. Moving closer, Edward was further surprised when the old woman's eyes opened suddenly and she took in a short breath. "Edward", she mouthed, talking had become too difficult for her. "Love" he whispered as he knelt down beside her. "Love", he repeated, now bowing his forehead so it was touching hers. The two forms stayed that way for what seemed like an eternity, the only sound being the old woman's strangled breaths. The breaths became more far apart, and Edward heard the heartbeat slowing down. Just before the last beat he moved his head and placed one last kiss on the lips of the woman he loved, and would love for all eternity. Then, as swiftly as he had come, he left. No human could have seen him.**

Alice returned upstairs with a fresh cup of coffee, she stopped dead in her tracks and the end of the hallway before Gram's room. . The figure of a young man was bent over Gram, Alice watched as he knelt still as a statue with his forehead to Gram's. His stillness was suddenly broken when he placed a small kiss on Gram's lips. Alice blinked and he was gone. Was it lack of sleep? Cautiously, Alice walked into Gram's room and dropped her coffee cup when she noticed it was quiet. She could not here Gram's breathing anymore. Alice dropped to the floor in a sudden rush of emotion and realization. The boy must have been death. He was not a friendly young man at all. Death was a cold statue, a mockery of friendliness. He didn't offer a walk to Gram, that last kiss was how he took Gram out of her world and into his own.


End file.
